How Abbey Road Studios Is Mentoring The Next Generation Of Music Startups

The mere mention of Abbey Road conjures up images of the most iconic music studio of all time —a studio that’s arguably as synonymous with cutting-edge technology as it is the legendary artists who’ve created music within its walls.

Yet Abbey Road Studios has never been one to rest on its laurels, and the past two years have seen the company dive into the tech space from a different perspective with Europe’s first-of-its-kind music-focused incubator. Abbey Road Red mentors tech startups in the music space by giving them access to the studio’s staff and facilities across production and business aspects — including meeting with the veteran experts at Abbey Road Studios and Universal Music Group, the studio’s parent company.

Seven startups have already gone through the program, which encompasses six months of mentoring. Last year, enrollees included Scored, a music library and film scoring application, Qrates, a vinyl crowdfunding platform, and The Audio Hunt, an online gear marketplace.

This year, the companies include AI. Music, which develops programs at the intersection of music artificial intelligence space, and Vochlea, which makes a recording device that translates vocals into instrumentation in real time.

Mirek Stiles, the head of audio products at Abbey Road Studios, has worked there since 1998 starting as an assistant recording engineer. After working on a number of projects as diverse and impactful as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Beatles Anthology, he made the foray into interactive projects in 2007.

Stiles shared his insight on how Abbey Road Red came to be, and what the world’s most famous legacy studio looks for in the tech companies it mentors.

Q: How did the initial idea for Abbey Road Red come about?

A: Abbey Road has a long history of association with innovation. In the days when the studios were part of the Gramophone Company, (later to become EMI), there was a large R&D department in the factories over in Hayes, West London. Abbey Road had strong ties to this R&D department in terms of product design, development and testing. This resulted in the first music stereo recording being conducted in Studio Two, the creation of the world’s first ‘modern style’ mixing consoles, as well as various tape machines, compressors and equalization units. There was always a Lab at Abbey Road with some very talented technicians pushing the boundaries as to what could be achieved with the then, rather basic technology – usually driven by requests from the artists who used the studios. The overall innovation department was known as REDD (Record Engineering Development Department). Jon Eades and myself, after having been exposed to this history on many occasions, always thought it would be so cool to get some sort of new incarnation of the REDD department up and running again.

Q: What are the biggest challenges startups in the music industry face, and how does the Abbey Road Red program aid entrepreneurs toward those ends?

A: Well the most important aspect is an idea that inspires and has purpose. Next is finding a great team to explore, develop, challenge and shape the idea. If you have a great idea and a great team this will shine through naturally to any potential investors. Sometimes the team is even more important than the idea itself. If you surround yourself with great people who know how the initial concept might flourish. Having said that, you really need to focus on the market you’re aiming at. Trying to be all things to all people will likely result in failure. The RED program gives startups access to the best minds and experience in the industry, pulling resources from both Abbey Road Studios and its parent company Universal Music. This can be anything from access to the recording studios right through to meetings with the business affairs legal teams at UMG and everything in-between. We have access to a large pool of inspiring and talented industry experts.

Abbey Road Red provides six-month mentorships to startups.

Abbey Road Studios

Q: How are the applicants selected? Are there are any particular traits that you look for in the participants?

A: The CEO must shine and inspire confidence, at the end of the day VCs are investing in a person/team. Initially we ask potential candidates to complete an application process – telling us a little about themselves and to submit a deck/commercial summary. After we have narrowed down the applicants to a few that have made something click we will ask them to present their idea to the RED board – ‘Dragons Den’ style, which is always fun. The RED board is a mixture of technical and commercial representatives from both Abbey Road and Universal Music, an eclectic mixture of talent and experience.

Q: What are some examples of the kind of aid that Abbey Road Red has provided with the incubator participants?

A: We have access to every aspect of the development process. This might involve spending the day with an Abbey Road engineer doing field testing in the studios or introductions to investors. Some companies need legal advice in publishing or access to a digital strategy or brand marketing team. What we offer is a very bespoke program tailored to each startup’s specific needs and development requirements.

Q: Why do you feel it is important for renowned brands like Abbey Road to aid startups and cutting-edge research?

A: I can’t tell you how exciting it is to work with startups. These companies and individuals have a dream and vision – that’s a very powerful thing and an inspiration to be around. Through the RED program, Abbey Road is introduced to the most cutting-edge technologies and services that can only be of huge benefit to the studios, Universal Music and our clients. It’s a great way of keeping our finger on the pulse – and it’s a lot of fun too!